The Only One
by Ringed Rose of Lesbos
Summary: With her sixteenth birthday come and gone, it's time for Dawn to explore the world she's never known. Just one problem: she doesn't have a Pokemon or any special abilities to keep her safe. At least her best friend Barry is in the same boat as her. But after a surprise chance to follow their dreams, will the duo be able to handle what their world throws at them? Slight Platinum AU.
1. Prologue

Johanna Diamond knew something was wrong the moment she told him that they had a baby girl on the way. The couple had gone to the clinic together to find out the baby's sex. His eyes narrowed at their angular corners, his small black pupils tightening in contrast to his navy blue irises. Even when he grabbed her hand and said he was so happy, she could tell he didn't mean it. This hadn't been his ideal outcome. Johanna could sense the disappointment in her running through his veins, as if her womb had stolen all that he was proud about himself. To him, this was a loss.

The drive to her apartment from the clinic was sprinkled with one-sided comments and questions from his son in the backseat. The only words her boyfriend of nearly a year were to his son, telling him the arrival of his sister in five months. The toddler's eyes lit up with curiosity like the stars on his space themed car seat.

Johanna grabbed her handbag from the dashboard as the car settled to a stop outside her apartment building. She paused a moment before stepping out of his car, already thinking of what her next move would be. With a bittersweet twinkle in her eye, she gave her boyfriend one final kiss before heading in. The young woman of 21 watched the cobalt vehicle pull out to the road, knowing that she wouldn't see those two for a long time.

With a sigh on her lips and a hand on her belly, Johanna " _Jewel of Sinnoh_ " Diamond began the longest short walk of her life.

 **Six Months Later**

Johanna Diamond watched her healthy baby girl's chest rise and fall with every breath she took as she slept. The young mother wondered what her child was dreaming about. Though only 22, the new mother felt as if she had aged lifetimes within the last half year.

Like all new parents, she had had to sacrifice much for her child. But for Johanna, it seemed she had given up more than most. In the past six months, the former fashion boutique owner, model, and Top Coordinator had sold her business and clientele, retired from her beloved career of performing with her Pokémon, and moved away from her hometown of Jubilife City. The magazines and tabloids had all gone abuzz like a hive of Beedrill and Combee, trying to follow her trail for the precious details. The young mother simply strode out of her only town as if she was losing nothing, and made the trip to Twinleaf Town. With all of her earnings and profits from selling the business, she would be in no financial trouble for decades.

Adjusting from urban to extremely rural life had been hard, especially by herself. Johanna had been right about her premonitions; she hadn't seen or heard a whiff of her ex-boyfriend since he had driven away; out of her life, but not out of her mind. This was by far the worst part of all of this, losing her shoulder to cry on or a hand to hold.

Despite all of these challenges, every time Johanna looked into Dawn's eyes or saw her smile, she knew it all had been worth it. Her Glameow stood as watchful protector over her sleeping baby, knowing that this miniature human, no matter how much change she had brought into her Trainer's life or how loudly she cried, was someone worth any sacrifice Johanna would make. The house she had bought for her new family of two was simple, yet it would sustain them. It would become a house of memories rather than of marketable value. Like the phrase went, this house would become a home.

As if sensing her mother was thinking about her, Dawn began to cry, a loud shrilly sound that made Glameow wince. Johanna simply picked up the one month old from her crib and rocked her until she fell back into a peaceful sleep. She glanced down at her infant, seeing both the past and he future within her. While Dawn had the same coloring and general facial structures, she had her father's eyes, and her cobalt puff of hair rested in spikes along her head, unlike her mother's curly mass of indigo. Johanna saw herself in Dawn, and she also saw her ex-boyfriend. But more importantly, she saw what Dawn could become in her ocean eyes.

The young mother, no longer by herself, gently placed her daughter back into her crib. For once, Johanna was not thinking of any sort of future. She was rooted to the spot with the Sinnoh shattering force of love for her child. Johanna just hoped that this would all be enough for the future she saw for Dawn.

While the future seemed desperate and trembling in its vast unknown, Johanna was sure of one thing: Dawn would be happy. This was the reason Johanna had chosen her beloved daughter's name; Dawn was the light in her life and would be in so many other's. The more traditional translation of her name, Hikari, literally meant light. In a dawn, there was a whole new day, an entire chance to start over. There was a chance for an entirely new life when one saw dawn.

Over the years, things would become improbably and paradoxically harder yet easier for Johanna. When Dawn turned three, another single mother with a boy named Barry moved down the street, and it provided the friendship both the Diamonds needed. Yet as Dawn grew older, Johanna was reminded how much work this all took. When Dawn broke her arm in kindergarten from trying to chase an Aipom into up a tree, Johanna nearly had a nervous breakdown, even though her daughter was fine. But in the end, as with all things, Dawn turned out to be all right. And as for Johanna, that was enough.

 **Author's Note: Thanks for reading! This is only the prologue, and the rest of the story will be narrated by Dawn. Just to be clear, this story follows the Sinnoh video games and NOT the anime. Story Dawn will not have the same personality as Anime Dawn. This story will also deviate from the story a little bit, but only in a world setting way. The plot will have the same events, such as Gym battles and Team Galactic.**

 **In this Sinnoh, most of the humans have certain abilities from their region, and people mainly stay in their hometown. Travel and communication is much less common than in the game, for reasons that will be explained in plot.**

 **Please review, favorite, and follow, etc. Have a lovely day!**

 **P.S. Dawn's father and half-brother are left intentionally unknown, but you're welcome to speculate!**


	2. Chapter 1

There were only two things Dawn truly hated in her world. One, vegetables of any kind. Two, being woken up at the butt crack of, well, dawn by another of Barry's hare-brained schemes. Okay, maybe a third: Having to use her name in a context that referred to the time.

While this had happened plenty of times, Dawn still let out a yelp of surprise when she awoke to a gleaming pair of enthralled orange eyes staring at her a mere nose away. "Dawn! What are you still doing in bed? It's time to get moving!" Barry probably would have said more animated nonsense if a pillow wasn't slammed over his head like an Onix's Ion Tail.

Dawn, ironically not a happy camper in the morning, looked over at the electric clock on her nightstand. Its red numbers seemed to mock her as they read _4:30_ A.M.With her hair a shaggy mess and her eyes like a hurricane, she continued to bash Barry with her pillow. "How many times do I have to tell you that it can wait until eight?" Her words were punctuated with grunts of Barry's mild pain (more surprise of Dawn's surprise violence) and her own grumpy breaks in speech.

After a few good hits with her pillow, Dawn flopped back onto her bed with an annoyed groan. "What is it this time, Barry?" Barry got up from his huddle on the floor, and after subvertly moving any pillow in arm's length, flopped down next to her.

"Only the greatest thing ever! I found a way we can go on a journey!" Seeing Dawn's skeptical eyebrow raise, he excitedly bounded to his feet before continuing. "I was watching this program tonight about Lake Verity. The River Pokémon Monsters dude found a red Gyarados inside its waters. I have a fishing pole, and I found some of my mom's old Pokeballs! We have to leave now because they almost caught it in the morning! Let's go, Dawn!" The blonde grabbed Dawn's hand and attempted to drag her out of bed, and he forgot two important things. One, Dawn was still in her pajamas. Two, he had woken up Ms. Diamond to let him in, who was coming up the stairs now.

The two Diamond women stared at Barry for a long moment before simultaneously sighing. "It's 4:30 in the morning, and I know you'll just come back in two weeks if it doesn't work this time." Johanna, used to Barry's wild and often ill-thought out antics, went back downstairs to make herself some strong coffee and pay a call to Barry's mother, Pearl.

Barry, a little retrospectively sheepish, struck a nervous glance back towards Dawn. With a frustrated sigh, Dawn stood back up and walked over to her best friend. "Just let me get dressed, and I'll meet you outside." The boy's citrine eyes crinkled at the corners from his smile. Barry ran down the stairs and out the door before she could say "ADHD".

As Dawn pulled on her black Levis and matching long top, she came thought back to the reasoning of the last 20 times a similar incident had happened. Despite both teenagers being 16, neither had a Pokémon or had been on a journey, unlike many adolescents their age. It hadn't been a choice for either Dawn or Barry, but their mothers'. Both teenagers understood that their families had good or rational reasons for their children to stay in the safe harbor of Twinleaf Town.

Neither child had their ancestral abilities'; the evolutionary genes designed to protect them were simply not there. Humans in Sinnoh had evolved to adapt to their environment over time, but due to geographic distances and divergent evolution, the people of Sinnoh were almost separated into tribes based on whatever genetic trait allowed to survive in their ancestral homeland. These abilities were not superpowers or magic; they were simply adaptive traits passed on from parent to child.

It was extremely unheard for children like Dawn and Barry to be born. Barry, originally from Snowpoint City, was not able to handle the extreme cold of where generations of his ancestors had lived and died. He did not have the fire that was supposed to burn through his veins. When faced with either her son dying or staying married, Pearl had chosen to leave behind everything she had ever known and moved to Twinleaf Town.

Twinleaf Town was a relatively new town of about a hundred years of history, along with neighboring Sandgem Town. It was a boiling pot of outcasts, families who were usually running away from something and their descendants or people looking for a fresh start or safety, like Johanna and Pearl. The two towns only had a combined population of 6,000 individuals, but their lives were seemingly intertwined with the exposure of so many different accents and cultures in such small towns. Even in a town of pariahs, one would always be able to find people to bond with and belong to. That was the only trait that the people of Sinnoh had in common: the need for community.

For Dawn and Barry, the need of belonging was driven by their curiosity and the stubborn youthful curse of needing to find others like them. But for these two, lack of a better word, mutants, there simply weren't many people who were like them, at the basis of their DNA. But being teenagers, they needed to prove that, and their mothers' couldn't stop them forever. That's why Dawn always put up with Barry's desperate attempts to get them Pokémon; they were the only two people on the planet who understood each other. Empathy is a good attempt, but experience was the only true way to truly walk in someone's shoes. It's a lot easier when you're the same size.

Dawn yawned as she took the stairs two at a time, blearily grabbing a thermos of hot coffee from her mother. Johanna pecked her daughter on the forehead as Dawn drudged out the door. She good-naturedly rolled her eyes at the duo she saw through the window, as Barry grabbed Dawn's hand and started high-tailing it to Lake Verity. She knew this day would come sooner or later.

Meanwhile, Dawn sprinted after her best friend all the way to the trail that led to Lake Verity. "Barry, it's too early in the god danged morning for this." Her best friend slowed down and waited for the slower girl, waving an arm for her to hurry up.

Out of breath, Dawn grabbed Barry's elbow, hooking it through hers. Now that she was awake and had all her grumpiness out of her, Dawn was her regular self. Orange eyes met navy as the two friends silently communicated in a secret language that inseparable souls could understand. The spark of adventure was apparent in their eyes, and with a single step, the friends stepped into their future.

 **Thanks for reading! Super hugs for Leona and Lucus Varentel for reviewing. *hugs***

 **I never really liked Dawn's outfit, so I changed it just a little. Instead of knee socks, she wears black pants, but everything else is the same.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. I also don't own a car. Not related, just felt like saying it.**

 **Reviews are realty appreciated, and I love to know what I could work on in my writing. Have a lovely day!**


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